Price tag for Rochester airport upgrade soars $25 million
Steve OrrWith work already underway, the cost of the showy upgrade at Greater Rochester International Airport has suddenly jumped $25 million to a projected total of $79 million.
Monroe County legislators approved the 46-percent increase unanimously Tuesday evening, hours after County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo had submitted the request.
The price hike is driven largely by last-minute changes to the canopy that is to be built over the roads and sidewalks outside the terminal building, county spokesman Jesse Sleezer said Tuesday afternoon.
Many of those changes are related to "state-of-the-art security features" that will be incorporated into the canopy. Sleezer declined to go into detail about what those changes will be, for security reasons.
The ballyhooed 21st century "smart terminal" envisioned by the county and New York state would feature the canopy, modern lighting and air handling, revamped security checkpoints and a host of communication improvements. An improved cellphone lot has already been dedicated.
The total project cost now will be $79 million, up from $54 million.
Some pavement work has already begun at the Brooks Avenue airport, and bids for eight more interior and exterior pieces of the project have been received in recent days.
Sleezer attributed the 11th-hour nature of the cost increase to the fact the project was developed through an innovative collaboration between the county, New York state and federal agencies.
"Due to the unique nature of the partnership, the process has been fluid and involved several modifications," he said.
County taxpayers will not be responsible for the extra $25 million, he said. Instead, the funds will come from two existing pots of money — federally authorized fees paid by airport passengers, and rent and parking revenue collected by the county's airport authority.
Fees would not increase to raise additional money and consumers should notice no change in the cost of moving through the airport, officials said. Sleezer could not say what other airport activities might get short shrift because more money was being diverted from those two pots to cover the improvement project.
Under the new budget, the airport authority now will provide $14.2 million, about $11 million more than originally planned. A total of $25 million will now come from passenger fee money, an increase of $14 million.
A $39.8 million competitive state grant makes up the balance.
The resolution enabling the increase to the project budget was submitted to the legislature on Tuesday by Dinolfo under rules that allow lawmakers to vote on the measure at their Tuesday-night session, leaving little time for research or discussion.
"We believe the increased authorization being considered by the Legislature remains consistent with the spirit of the project as initially proposed. There will continue to be zero local taxpayer dollars invested in the project," Sleezer said.